The Last Daylily

Hemerocallis

I am happy to be able to show this flower. It is the final bloom for the season on a clump that has grown huge over the years. Last season it flowered for several weeks. Each time I looked out of my bathroom window I saw a spectacular display. This season promised even better, with more than a thousand buds lined up. But then it rained and rained, followed by weeks of low cloud and gloom. As each of the buds almost reached maturity it turned to slime. A few opened, but they looked sickly.

This last bud came out this morning, and so did the sun. (It was the third sunny morning so far this year). The flower was healthy and had no caterpillar damage. It looked glorious in the sunshine.

Daylilies are so-called because each flower blooms for one day and then dies. They grow on stems with, in the case of this clump, an average of about ten blooms per stem. Each stem produces a new flower every few days, which prolongs the flowering season. This season my clump had more than 160 stems.


Thank you for the comments yesterday. They were very touching and made me realise what wonderful people you are. I can stop feeling guilty about the thought I that I was deceiving you.